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Friday, July 29, 2011

I'll be totally honest. I don't know a lot about this whole DC40 thing going on. I read Kallan Kennedy's posts about it, I read Patti Wigington's post, and Jason Pitzl-Waters' post. It goes deeper and deeper than I thought it would. This is isn't something that will go away quickly, and the event certainly isn't what I thought it was. I read enough to know that it scares me, and I don't even live in the states!

And that is just the thing. It SHOULD scare me. It should scare all of us who belong to minority religions, regardless of what territory lines divide us. I doesn't scare me as in “Run away, run away!!”

It scares me in such a way that I would be scared for any other part of my life; a part I would be prepared to fight for. Perhaps “scare” isn't exactly the right word, but it will serve. What scares me is how many people want to take away other people's freedoms. Yes, there are always those willing to fight – fight with words, with blog posts, with articles. Fight with magickal or other means as well. Fluffy bunny is all well and good until you are faced with a snarling fox. Then all you have is a fat fox and a pile of fur.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves." Yes, he was talking about the slavery of African Americans. I think it applies to those who would shackle our souls as well. We would never deny others the right to worship as their souls are pulling them to, but we will not stand idly by while they take away our right to do the same.

I know this is a heavy post before the weekend, but I think the biggest thing that can be done about this - at the moment, at least - is awareness. We build awareness. It becomes less and less attractive to others the more that it is seen what this religious group is doing. There are fanatics in every religion; these are no different.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

I haven't posted a lot on Lughnasadh. Okay, fine. I haven't posted anything about Lughnasadh. That's mostly because I've been getting ready for our Open Lughnasadh Ritual on Sunday!

Lughnasadh is the first of the harvest festivals. Grains are celebrated at Litha; Wheat, Barley, Rye, and others. Gold and Yellow are the colours of Lughnasadh, after the colours of the ripe grain in the field.

Have you ever walked through a wheat field? Most people, with our modern, urban lives, have not. Walking through a wheat field, your hands stretched out to touch the tips of the wheat as you walk by, you hear a gentle sound. A bit of a rattle, a light swooshing. It's almost hard to explain if you've never heard it. It's a sound that I always associate with this time of year, though.

Some harvest (and subsequently, of course, fertility) deities that are appropriate at this time of year are Lugh (of course), Demeter, Odin, and Sif. You won't find Sif on any correspondence lists, but with hair that supposedly represents the wheat fields, I think she is appropriate!

Main foods are grains, breads, and beef. Mead is awesome to drink at this Sabbat! Oh, who are we kidding. Mead the whole year round!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I've been off grid for a couple of days, Brianna got a hideous fever Sunday night, and is just finally getting better now although her little throat still sounds like a chainsaw. Seriously, when she speaks it sounds like a 50 year old drag queen who is a heavy smoker. It's a cute voice coming out of a toddler, though! Ha.

On Monday, Brianna was nice enough to pass me her sickness, which I have almost recovered from as well. You know, life happened.

I probably won't get to post much over the next little while, as not only are we still recovering, but this weekend we have a Pagan Meet up here locally, we have our open Lughnasadh ritual on Sunday, and next Wednesday we leave for a short vacation. There is a LOT to do.

In a previous post I talked about the Congregationalist Wiccan Assembly of Alberta opening a Temple here in my city. That has snowballed immensely, and it looks like the Temple here will be proclaimed in September! So I'm about to get a lot busier. I'm planning on cutting back my posting slightly, still at least 3 times a week unless life gets in the way!

The word ‘rune’ is defined as “any of the characters of certain ancient alphabets, as of a script used for writing the Germanic languages.” Runes, for some are a form of divination. For others they’re a form of ancient language. Others see them as symbols that have deeper meanings to our past and our ancestors.

So where did runes start and how did they become a form of divination? In the Eddas, ancient books of the Norse/ Scandinavian people about their Gods, it was recorded and translated that Odin hung from Yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights in order to obtain the knowledge of the runes.

In the poetic Eddas it tells us that Odin found 18 runes. This is where a lot of confusion starts to stem from. If you take any modern rune kit and dump it out, you’ll find that there are 24 or 25 runes. The Younger Futhark is comprised of 16 runes. The Elder Futhark is comprised of 24 or 25 runes which were the original alphabet used . In all honesty it doesn’t matter which set you use. The Younger Futhark is a simpler version of the Elder Futhark, but it unlike the Elder, the Younger was used for much longer and stuck around until Latin eventually replaced it. This is a long standing debate – Younger or Older. Whatever you feel comfortable with is all that matters.

Because the runes traveled and changed so much, one rune may have many different meanings. In the books ‘The Rune Primer’ by Sewyn Plowright and ‘The Rudiments of Runelore’ by Stephen Pollington give the three different rune poems, also known as kennings. Commonly you will find Old English, Old Icelandic, and Old Norwegian kennings. The two books mentioned above both offer all three kennings for each rune.

The kennings are where the modern symbolism of the runes came from. What was written in the rune poems have been translated into what the runes mean. For example if you draw the rune Fehu (see picture below) you’ll find that Fehu is always associated with money. Why is it associated with money? All three kennings for Fehu have something to do with money. Not with wealth, but with physical money.

So we have the basic understanding of where runes come from and why they’re interpreted the way they are. Now how do you read them? Runes are not like tarot, nor should they ever be treated as such. Runes shouldn’t be read in reverse or upside down. Why do I believe this? If you take the letter ‘A’ and flip it on its head does it make a different sound? No, it doesn’t. Same thing applies with Runes.**

There are multitudes of ways to read runes. Some do a basic three pull – past, present, future. Some do a full out spread (my favorite method) by allowing the runes to fall from a bag or their hands and letting them show what needs to shown. Some people draw the runes out one by one and read whatever order they come out of. There are a couple of other ways that people read runes, but I won’t go there.

At the end of a reading I will always, always, always pay homage to Odin. Whether it’s a quick prayer or an offering of beer and a bit of bread, I will always offer something back. It is vital to understand that the Gods gifted us with the runes and we owe them for that. Always say thank you!

**It takes a life time to master any form of divination and rune magic is no exception. There are many people who have different opinions, their own interpretations of the Eddas and other various pieces of Scandinavian works, and would consider what I wrote to be incorrect. What I have written is based off my own opinion with guidance from some good friends who know a bit more on the subject and a couple of great books.

Further Reading & Resources

The Rune Primer: A Down-to-Earth Guide to the Runes by Sweyn Plowright

Thursday, July 21, 2011

We interrupt our regularly scheduled divination broadcast today to bring you the lament of a Mother - namely, me - whose child has entered the first part of the "no" stage. Here is a taste of how my morning has been:

Me: Good Morning, Brianna! (as I'm getting her out of the crib)

Brianna: No.

Unfazed, I continued on.

Me: Do you want a new diaper?

Brianna: No.

Me: Do you want to get dressed?

Brianna: No.

Me: Do you want to stay in PJs?

Brianna: No.

Me: Do you want breakfast?

Brianna: No.

Me: Do you want to read a book?

Brianna: No.

Me: Do you want to play with a toy?

Brianna: No.

So we got her a new diaper and got her dressed regardless, and she is munching her breakfast. I don't hold out much hope for the continuation of my sanity, however.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Palmistry is the art of reading a person's life from the lines of their hands. It seems to be a dying art. I've never met anyone, online or otherwise, who practiced palmistry. At least so far as I know.

A palm reading usually starts with the dominant hand, be it right or left. Right hands are controlled by the left side of the brain and is considered masculine. The opposite is of course true of the left hand. Your hand will also have a certain shape, named after each of the elements. An Earth hand is broad with broad fingers. Air hands are square or rectangular with long fingers. Water hands have short palms and long fingers, and Fire hands have square or rectangular palms and short fingers.

The most commonly known lines on the hands are the head line, the heart line, the life line and the fate line. There is far too much information to write it all here, but in short here is a little bit of the meaning of the lines stated above:

1. The Head Line - Represents a person's mind. Can tell how a person learns and in general the way their mind works.

2. The Heart Line - Represents, of course, the heart. Emotions and even cardiac health.

3. The Life Line - The life line is thought to represent a person's major life changes, as well as a person's physical health.

4. The Fate Line - This line is said to be tied to a person's life path, and the person's life circumstances and choices.

There is so much more information on palm reading that would never fit here. Somewhat surprisingly, Wikipedia has a great article on it. This site, simply called Palmistry, looks to be a great resource as well.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Scrying is the art of seeing shapes and shadows in different mediums and interpreting them. There are many different ways; including mirrors, water, and crystal balls. Scrying is best done in dim lighting, as this aids in the ability to pick out shapes and shadows. Candle light or lamp light is of course best - and by lamps, I mean kerosene lamps.

Let's start with crystal balls. The crystal ball has gotten an interesting reputation over the years, being featured in so many movies as it has. My personal favorite?

Oh yeah. Disney's Robin Hood.

Crystal balls are quite possibly the most commonly known form of divination among the masses, with Tarot running a close second. For those who have never used a crystal ball, it can take a while to find one you feel attuned with and longer still to be able to read anything with that ball. The best pieces of glass, crystal or gemstone for scrying this way will be cloudy.

Another popular way to scry is with mirrors, either painted black or left as is. Water is also commonly used. Scrying with water is called Hydromancy. To scry with water, you can use a scrying bowl - a clear glass bowl painted black on the outside. You might even have heard of a famous Hydromancer - Nostradamus.

Scrying can be done with almost any medium which shows shadows and shapes - those mentioned above, as well as fire and smoke. There are many more that I don't feel I have the space here. There are wonderful resources out there. I'm really loving the CrystalLinks Divination Index, which has shell and wind scrying listed as well. Regardless of which method you try, remember that it can take several sessions before you might see anything.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Well folks, here it is...The next part of my blog giveaway, the caption contest. Everyone who wishes can leave a comment with their caption below. The captioning will be open until July 27. At that time, I'll put the captions into a poll, and people can vote on their favorite caption!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday. Sean is on his 20+ day stretch without a day off, because his boss is on vacation. Sean's boss's boss came in yesterday and told Sean to just go home and have a day off! So I didn't really get anything done, it was a novel thing to see my husband while he was still awake.

Today is my column over at the Pagan Household, today it is a recipe for a potluck treat, Granola Snack Balls! Hope everyone enjoys.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

We take a break from our regularly scheduled Divination post today. Today, I'm posting something else. I don't know the whole story, and I don't know entirely how to explain it best. So I'll leave that to Mrs.B, who posted this (along with the link) on her Facebook page:

"A FB group has created a "manifesto" list of people in the Pagan community for it's members to harass. Apparently, it's announced war on another group, and mined that group's member's friends list to create a master list of people they feel need to be attacked online - including the name of at least one minor child. Names on the list include such people as Star Foster from Patheos and authors Judika Illes and Raymon Buckland, among others. Visit Pagans against Plagiarism and read the note "Goblin" to see the list of names. It is a closed group, so I'm not even sure how to report this group for it's actions."

Yes, the wonderful people at Pagans against Plagiarism posted in a note what had been posted on this other FB page before the group became secret. The note can be found here, but the following will give you an idea of the type of people this Goblin Hunters group is:

Goblin Hunter: We need You!!! List of escaped goblins nasty horrid gremnasties i need to bring back underground DEEP UNDERGROUND to the mines of Mogodon

TO: the real people who want to show just how horrible facebook can be with fake accounts and goblins running all over the place. I am here to find those nasty escaped goblins and bring them back down underhill where they belongs.

fluffy Bunnie coven and there abuse of genuine people. - WELL DONE

I am a real goblin not a real person Goblin Hunter

nasty nasty goblins

Ignoring, for the time being that my first account was deleted, The Whacko Jacko aka Name Removed, Name Removed and Name Removed s ridiculous stockpiling of international goblins mindwreckers as if they're the scarcest of commodities on our planet , it would appear that Whacko, Name Removed and Name Removed under the keen eye of Name Removed are is embarking on a policy of assembling a goblin team to really frighten opponents… with their physical weirdness.

There is a whole big story behind this which can be found, again, at Pagans against Plagiarism. There has been an amount of confusion this morning over this, and I want to stress that the Pagans against Plagiarism group are *not* the ones saying these things, they re-posted it so that other's would know. This Goblin Hunter group *has* been reported to Facebook by several people.

The really strange thing? I'm on the list. I'm strangely flattered, actually. Which is probably the opposite of how they want people on that list to feel. Ah well!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Where to begin with Astrology? Most of us already have a slight working knowledge of astrology, whether we know it or not. Zodiac signs are the most common piece of astrology available, and of course newspaper horoscopes abound. Astrology is so much more than that though, and I'll admit that I am in no way an expert.

So many things factor in to astrology; sun and moon signs, associations with planets and stars, ascendant and descendant signs. A wonderful explanation comes from Jung, "We are born at a given moment in a given place and like vintage years of wine we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything else."
It can be quite easy to find your Zodiac sign if you don't know it, all you need to do is Google it. Truly understanding Astrology, however, is an endeavor that takes years. Each sign that you have - Sun, moon, ascendant and descendant add different qualities and nuances to your personality. Your sun sign - the common zodiac sign - is a good place to start because it is your basic personality. A moon sign tells about your inner personality. Ascendant signs tell what sign was rising - in the nine o'clock position at the time of your birth. The ascendant sign is considered the one that you show the world, a mask. Descendant signs give insight to relationships.

There are some great websites out there to get a rudimentary knowledge of Astrology. There are also some really terrible ones...I'll only be listing the a few of the good ones here. The About.Com astrology page has a lot of wonderful links. A Place in Space has some great resources as well. Astrology isn't something one can learn in a few hours or a few days; to learn it will take years. Astrology is it's own language, and you can't learn a language over night.

Monday, July 11, 2011

The (technically) first divination type on our list is Cartomancy. Cartomancy is divination by cards. Playing cards originated in China, and traveled to Europe in the 14th century to become similar to what we know now. According to Wikipedia, the first documented occurrence of playing cards was in 1367 when the town Bern, Switzerland. Different decks of cards are used in different countries. While the 52 card deck is used in most of North America and western Europe, in France the Piquet deck is more often used; a normal deck with all the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6's removed leaving a 32 card deck.

The Fortune Teller by Mikhail Vrubel

Traditional decks can be used for tarot as well as modern 78 card Tarot decks. The cards are each assigned a meaning, and it is up to the reader to interpret the cards as they fall. In Tarot, the court cards represent people, and the same is true of court cards in a deck of playing cards. The King of Hearts represents a fair main, the King of Clubs a dark man, etc. Oracle Decks are something else entirely; they too are cards with images that are assigned meaning, but the interpretation of the cards is something that is best done with intuition. With tarot the meanings of the cards come with the books. With oracle cards there will be a book with meanings as well, but the reading relies much more heavily on the reader with oracle cards than with Tarot. There are some wonderful Oracle decks out there, enough different styles to attune with everyone, as with Tarot. There are fairy, angel, and dragon oracles; animal, Native American and Druidic oracle decks, and many more.

There is a game that we use to play with a deck of playing cards when I was in Elementary school; a rudimentary form of divination even if we didn't know what divination was at the time! I'm sure if we knew, it would have been considered evil and outlawed. Regardless, with a regular deck of cards, we played a fortune telling game. What kind of house you would have, how many children you would have, if you would be rich. You know, all the things that are important to young children thinking about the future, haha!

An instruction on Tarot Cards or Oracle Cards would take me months, so that isn't what I'll do here. If you are interested in learning Tarot, or even just brushing up on your skills, there is a wonderful 6 week e-mail course Introduction to Tarot offered by Patti Wigington which is fabulous. Oracle Cards are both simpler and more difficult than Tarot; a rudimentary Tarot reading can be done from the book; though the great Tarot readers use their intuition. Oracle cards require that intuition from the start.

What other types of Cartomancy have you tried? Which is your favorite?

Friday, July 8, 2011

From the Enlightened Pathways website: AEROMANCY divination from the air and sky, particularly concentrating on cloud shapes, comets, and other phenomena not normally visible in the heavens.

Aeromancy wasn't on yesterday's list, but I thought I would mention it, considering that the county next to us had 2 tornadoes touch down and our county had 2 tornadoes touch down yesterday as well as mega hail. Here is an example, about 10 minutes ish south of us:

Seriously. On the other side of that rain wrap was us, pretty much. We saw the opposite side of the cloud, complete with green lightening. There are more pictures at the link. It was something else. Of course, we were too busy getting things ready in case we needed to leave (we DO live in a trailer) that we didn't stop to do anything else. We are supposed to have similar weather for at least a week, so the bags will stay by the door.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

I've been thinking for a while about doing a series of posts on Divination; this will (obviously) be the first. I'm going to be going in depth on a few different methods of divination in future posts, but for today we will list a few. Please comment if there is one you want me to post on!

First, a little definition. The word divination is taken from the Latin worddivinare. Divinare means to forsee or to be inspired by a God. Literally, divine sight. As such, while divination can and a lot of the time is a natural thing, those without the natural talents can nurture them. Asking the gods for help with Divination only makes sense, if they are the source. Today, I'll just list a few of the more common ones. **Update, August 17 2011** As more divination posts go up, they will be listed here regardless of common type or not.

Cartomancy - This is divination with cards. Tarot and oracle cards fall under cartomancy.

Astrology - I could never make a list like this without putting astrology on it. Astrology is divination using the celestial bodies.

Scrying - This covers divination using mirrors, water, crystal balls, and the like.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Well folks, today will (hopefully, no promises) be the last post like this for a little while. I have nothing prepared for today, mostly because of court yesterday, etc. We don't have another court date until September, thank the Gods! Court, by the way, went AWESOME. So awesome, I have to tell you all. Without naming names, of course.

So: The people we were going to court with was our hooligan neighbor and his father. For ease of telling the story, we will call them junior and senior. This was supposed to be the trial for the noise complaints, for reference. We got to the courthouse early, and met up with the County Officer who was also supposed to be testifying. The County's lawyer got there, and we were discussing testifying and all that because it was our first time doing such. Then senior and junior got there, just as the lawyer saying that he would object to any irrelevant questions that senior would ask during the cross examination. Hehheh. Because senior has been spouting off about vendettas every chance he gets...it's pretty ridonkulous.

So the we went into the courtroom with the County Officer, and the County's lawyer took Senior and Junior into an interview room to see if they wanted to change their plea or what was going on. A couple minutes later the lawyer came into the court room and asked the County Officer, "Senior says he wasn't even there when the incident occurred." To which the Officer replied: "Oh yes he was, he slammed the door in my face!"

Cue gigglesnort. So the Officer went with the lawyer to talk to Senior and Junior, who had the crap scared out of them, lol. Those sorts are always afraid of authority. So they ended up pleading guilty, one noise ticket for each of them and the third ticket was scrapped. Which is perfect, because that way the next time they make noise (because they are still doing it) it doesn't matter which one of them is given the ticket, it can count as a second offense. Which is double the money!

Not that we get that money, but the more money you have to pay for being an idiot, the quicker you smarten up.

So that was our Tuesday, and Sean got called into work after court. Which was awful, because it was his only day off this week. He only gets one day off next week, and then he doesn't get days off at all for the next two weeks...his boss is on vacation for 3 weeks.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Thanks to all who commented yesterday about my cat/catnip issue. I prefer asking you all what you think, instead a website that may or may not be done by a real person. I'll let you all know what ends up happening, I'm sure.

Also, Happy Canada Day! Yay! We are able to see the fireworks from our house luckily, so we won't have to go out and about in the pack crowds and craziness of today.

Again, it's one of those Fridays! My column at the Pagan Household today is about my first ever "garden", which is currently sprouting! Exciting stuff. I have no life.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and to all my American friends and readers, have a great Independence Day weekend!